I'll Make A Man Out Of You, Again
by theatrekid02
Summary: On the night of their wedding, Shang is forced to leave Mulan behind to fight the Mongols. Will she be a loyal wife and stay home like she was told, or join him to 'be a man' again? Think about it, this is Mulan we're talking about. REVIEWS P/TY :)
1. Chapter 1

**welp, never thought id be writin mulan fanfiction of all things, but here it is yalls. i got the idea cause for some reason ive been watching mulan over an over again for like ten times no joke. i dont know why, i just keep watching it. talk about pms symptoms. lol so anyways, i dont own any of the characters or nothing they all belong to disney. dont sue me.**

()-()-()

"So, three months ago-"

"Two and a half months ago," Shang interrupts. Mulan laughs.

"Two and a half months ago, did-"

Shang clears his throat. "On second thought, I believe it was two months and three fourths."

She smacks him playfully on the shoulder with her fan.

"Anyway," Mulan continues, "on that first day of training, however long ago it was, did you ever think for a second you would end up _marrying_ the skinny lunatic who spilled all the rice?"

He chuckles, and spins her around as they dance slowly to the violins.

"Well first of all, I didn't even know you were a woman," he says. "All I thought of you at the time was a nuisance. And a liar that somehow got ahold of the honorable Fa Zhou's papers."

Shang nods across the patio at her father respectively, and Mulan makes a fake offended face at him.

"Uh huh," she says. "And when exactly did you realize your feelings for Ping, the boy soldier?"

Shang raises his eyebrows. "I never had any feelings for 'Ping the boy soldier'. He was like a little brother to me. Mulan, however, I realized I had a crush on very quickly."

"How quickly, General?" she teases. He gives her a look.

"As soon as you crashed the parade in the Imperial City. What about you, _Ping_?"

"When you first took off your shirt."

Just as he begins to make a sly remark, officers atop white stallions thunder through the party and the violins halt with a screech.

"General Li Shang," one of them booms, "the Mongols have broken the eastern border, and are moving quickly. You're needed at the front."

He hands Shang a scroll. Mulan is fast to approach them.

"I'm going too," she announces.

Shang doesn't look up from the scroll. "No, you are not."

"What?!" she hollers. "I saved China! And created an alliance with Qui Gong!"

The other officer looks down on Mulan. "Well obviously that didn't do much. The Mongols are still attacking."

She glares at him. "If it weren't for me, you- hey!"

Shang grabs her arm and drags her to the back of the patio.

"Mulan, it's not looking so good," he says stiffly. "There is a _very_ high chance no soldiers will be returning from war."

Her jaw drops. "Then I _have_ to go fight! It looked the same way right before I started that avalanche!"

"No!" he says sternly. "I can't let you die at the hands of the Mongols! You've already proven yourself to be a hero, don't make yourself a martyr!"

"You know it's not about that, Shang," she retorts. "I have to fight! It's my duty!"

"Mulan, no. You have so many people that depend on you, that love you so much," he pleads. "Don't be selfish."

Mulan looks at him hopelessly. "You don't think that I love you? You don't think I would be devastated if you were killed, when I could've prevented it?"

Shang's face softens and he lifts his hand to touch her cheek, catching a tear with his thumb.

"Mulan, I'm sorry," he whispers.

A memory flashes behind her eyes. The rope on the bridge starting to tear, her iron grip on his hand, his weight almost ripping her arm. The same exact words he whispered before releasing himself into the amber abyss. Screaming his name, the same way she does now as he mounts his white horse and casts her a final look behind him.

It's practically a death sentence.

Mulan can feel the entire party's eyes on her. She must look like a fool, standing there in a rumpled wedding gown, tears running down her face. She sees her parents gaze at her sorrowfully, and the entire crowd looks so solemn.

She hikes up her kimono and runs to the temple.

"Ancestors," she prays, "please do not let Shang be killed. I want to go with him, but I also want to be a loyal wife. Please show me what I have to do."

Mulan stays there, kneeling on the ground for what seems a long time. There is no sign of anything, so she ponders it in her mind. Love? Or loyalty.

Another memory comes to her, the princess Mei and juggling luggage. She had asked her how to decide between duty and heart.

"My duty is to my heart," Mulan says aloud.

"Your whaty's to your what?"

She stiffens at the sudden voice, but realizes who's it is. Mushu.

"My duty is to my heart," she repeats, louder. "I have to go help Shang."

The travel-sized dragon climbs onto her soldier.

"What?!" he exclaims. "Girl, he said you'd be killed!"

Mulan stands up and makes her way out of the temple.

"I would've thought, Mushu," she replies, "that you of all people would have faith in my life. Being my guardian and all."

"Alright, alright. You can join the army again," Mushu complies, glum.

"So glad I have your permission."

Little Brother barks and nips about Mulan's feet, stumbling her.

"Wait a second," Mushu says, "if you join the army again looking like Ping, Shang'll recognize you right away."

Mulan stops. "You're right."

She stoops to sit on the hill and thinks about this. Mushu is definitely right.

"So...I have to look like a man, but a different man. How am I supposed to do that?" she asks him. A different voice replies.

"I can help with that."

()-()-()


	2. Chapter 2

()-()-()

Mulan turns around.

"Grandma Fa?"

The old woman sits beside Mulan in the grass and takes her hand.

"So you're gonna be a man again, but you can't look like you did last time?"

She nods, dumbly.

"Well I know how to fix that," Grandma says.

Mulan blinks. "How?"

She smiles and pats her hand. "When I was your age during the war, we had foreign soldiers always coming and going through the village, barging into our homes to look for valuable things they could sell." She lowers her voice. "However, most of them were looking for young girls to rape. So before anything could happen to us, my friends and I figured out how to use clay and paint to disguise ourselves as old women whenever they came around. We became very good at it too."

Mulan raises her eyebrows. "You mean, you can change how my face looks?"

"Sure I can," Grandma Fa replies. "But makeup isn't permanent, so I'm gonna have to teach your lizard here how to do it."

Mushu's ears prick up. "Lizard?!"

A few moments later, they sit by the mirror in Mulan's bedroom. Grandma teaches her and Mushu how to glue animal hair to make her eyebrows seem burly, how to apply rouge under her eyes to make them seem puffy, and how to create a scar with clay and a chopstick. When she's done, Mulan faces the mirror and startles herself.

"Oh my," she mutters, running her fingertips across a little 'scar' that runs under her eye. Her once pretty, round eyes are replaced with hooded ones, swollen. Mulan's eyebrows had always been thick but manicured, now they're just thick. Her lips look thinner and darker.

Mulan is unrecognizable, and hope surges through her veins.

"What about my name? And papers?" she asks distractedly, testing her brows by moving them up and down.

"Covered," Grandma answers, holding up a scroll. Mulan opens and reads it.

"Xiang Yin? Is that-"

"My father," she answers. "Your great-grandfather, maternally."

"Hm..." Mulan thinks about it. "Do you think this scroll will be outdated enough for them to catch on?"

Grandma Fa shakes her head. "Just tell them you live up in the mountains. Nothing is improved up there."

Mulan hugs her grandmother, and stands up.

"Why are you helping me?" she asks.

"Because you're the hero of China, of course," the old woman says. "You need to go help that handsome boy you got!"

Mulan smiles, and bows. "Thank you Grandma."

As quickly as she did the night her father was drafted, she loads everything on Khan the horse and opens the saddle bag for Mushu and Cri-Kee.

"I need all the luck I can get," she tells them.

By morning, they arrive at the camp, only a few hours away from her home village. This camp looks pretty much the same to the one Mulan had trained at. Only this time there won't be training. Just packing, marching, then fighting. Then maybe death. Probably death.

She remembers the first day at camp last time, and how she blew it. Mulan has had her fair share of pretending to be a man, so she should be fine. _If_ she keeps her mouth shut.

They approach the campsite and Khan slows to a trot.

"Now remember Mulan," Mushu warns, "this time our strategy's to keep quiet and blend in. The more trouble you getcha'self into, the more likely ol' Shanghai's gonna notice. Got it?"

They dismount the horse and Mushu hides below her collar as she walks into the campsite.

"I think I know how to handle myself, Mu-"

 _THUD!_ She'd run smack into the back of a short, burly man who swings around and meets Mulan with a growl.

Yao! she almost yells. She didn't know he was going to be at the front, and looking around, she sees Ling and Chien-Po.

"Watch where you're going, chicken-boy," he mutters.

She's about to spit out an apology, but Ling turns around.

"Yao, what did we tell you about being nice?" he shouts.

Yao pushes him away. "To be nice."

Ling looks up at Mulan and raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, do I know you?" he asks.

Panic alarms go off in her head.

"No way," she blurts, not remembering to deepen her voice.

"Yeah," Yao pipes in, "he do look familiar."

Mulan clears her throat. "No, my name is Yin. Xiang Yin. You don't know me. I live up in the mountains."

Chien-Po scratches his neck and Ling cocks his head.

"Hey, you kinda look like a guy we know. Well, girl, actually-"

Mulan punches him right square in the face. Her eyes widen; she did _not_ mean for that to happen.

Ling grins stupidly in a daze and Yao narrows his eyes.

"Oh, I see how it is tough guy," he growls.

He leaps to tackle Mulan, but she dodges him and Yao lands on Ling. Ling hits Yao and Yao kicks Chien-Po, tripping him. He lands on all of them and Mulan is pinned at the bottom. As they all kick at Chien-Po to get off of them, a shout echoes.

"Soldiers!"

They scramble to stand up and it all seems very, very familiar to Mulan as she remains huddled on the ground shielding her head. She hears the crunching of boots become louder and then stop.

She looks up into the eyes of her husband.

()-()-()


	3. Chapter 3

()-()-()

Shang chuckles walking to the scene, reminded of the first time he met Mulan. Just like her, the man is curled up into a little ball to protect himself from Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po. Getting closer, he sees that the soldier is also skinny and small. They sure liked to pick fights with the runts, that's for sure. Which isn't particularly surprising.

But this is no training camp, Shang reminds himself. This is actual war, and these men have already been trained. Them especially should know better.

The small man looks up from his hands and locks eyes with Shang.

He gasps. "Mulan," he whispers.

Oh no. Oh no. Mulan is flooded with panic. She can't move; paralyzed with fear before Mushu whispers, "Xiang Yin. Act natural, girl, c'mon."

She hurries to her feet and clears her throat.

"Sorry General," she mutters, trying to mask her awful 'man voice'.

Shang shakes his head. He's been thinking about the wife he left behind so much that now he's seeing things. This one is definitely not Mulan. Or Ping for that matter. His cheeks are too hollow and lips too thin. The eyes aren't the same. Not to mention the scar going under one. Shang knows he should be glad, but he isn't.

"Who are you?" he asks with a glare. "I don't think I've seen you before."

Mulan gulps and avoids the steady narrow gaze. Oh no. What's her name again?

"Um, I'm...Shang Yin. Uh, I mean Xiang Yin. My name is Xiang Yin," she quickly corrects.

She doesn't think he looks too convinced.

"Here's my registration," she pulls out of her belt and hands to him. "I live up in the mountains so I guess it's kind of...old-looking."

Shang inspects it briefly and shoves it back into her open palms. He doesn't remember a Xiang being on the list, but if he's willing to die for China then he won't be the one to stop him.

"Well, country boy," he says sharply, "I don't know how you managed to complete your training, or how they train up in the mountains, but here the only fighting permitted is with the Mongols."

He looks like he's done speaking until he turns to Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po.

"This is not training camp," he continues. "It's war. You three should know better."

Then he marches off, and Mulan lets out a sigh of relief. Pretending to be a man is harder than she remembers. And it's only been a month.

"I think I can handle this, Mushu," Mushu mimics in a high pitched voice. "Just cause you helped me save China n' all don't mean I gotta take your advice."

"I didn't mean to do that," Mulan tells him.

"All soldiers report to the general!" somebody shouts.

Mulan begins to walk to the center of camp. "Yeah, just like you didn't mean to set that cannon off and give away our position to the huns," he mutters.

"That was you, Mushu."

The crowd gathers around Shang and Mulan purposely stays in the back, wanting to be unseen. Besides, if Shang takes off his shirt at least he can't tell if she stares.

"You men have been chosen as the finest soldiers in China," Shang says. "I know you're all aware of the high stakes. The Mongols are a lethal kind, perhaps more dangerous than the Hun army. What they lack in size they make up with strength. However, we do have many good men to crush them with. If it becomes necessary to post another draft, it will happen. But for now, I firmly believe we can defeat the Mongols with this company here."

Mulan raises her eyebrows. That was different from what he told her yesterday night. He could be trying to build their confidence. Then again, he could've tried to make it seem like it was too bad for her to go.

"Enjoy your last night of resting in a long while," Shang says. "Tomorrow, we head for the eastern border."

An older man, aged in his late forties or early fifties steps forward from the crowd, bows to Shang and promptly looks to him with concern.

"General," he says, "no disrespect, but if we are the finest soldiers in China, where is Fa Mulan? Or, Li Mulan now, isn't it. We've all heard a great deal about her."

Mulan feels the color draining from her face, and watches Shang bite his lip and look down.

"Mulan is at home taking care of her family," he replies.

"No she ain't," Mushu says from her collar. Mulan shushes him.

"I thought it would be best for her there. We don't want the hero of China to be killed in battle this soon after saving the country."

"Hm. I thought it was because you love me," Mulan mutters.

They spend the remainder of the day packing cannons into the wagons. It's a very tedious task. You have to wrap the cannon _perfectly_ and fit it _just_ right into the wagon or else it might go off, and set the others off too. Mulan works toward the back of the camp, trying to go unnoticed.

However, this strategy proves to be faulty because much to her dismay, she watches Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po move their stuff next to where she is sitting.

()-()-()


	4. Chapter 4

()-()-()

Ling drops his roll of canvas next to Mulan and him with the others plop down on the grass.

"Hi, Yin. Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot," Ling says. "No hard feelings."

"Yeah, so much for bein' subtle," Mushu mutters. Mulan grabs down the back of her tunic and covers his mouth.

"Um...yeah," she mumbles. Mulan knows that her best interest is to stay quiet, but she can't help but be curious.

"I heard, uh, you three went on a mission with the general recently. And Fa Mulan," she remarks.

"Oh yes," says Chien-Po. "We were supposed to escort the Emperor's daughters to Qui Gong to be married, but...I'm sure you heard what happened."

"We," interrupts Yao, "ended up marrying those princesses, and now we got all sorts of things going for us."

Mulan widens her eyes. "You're already married?"

Mushu pokes her in the neck. She forgot her man voice for a second. But they seem unaware.

"My girl Ting-Ting could hardly keep her hands off me," Ling brags. Yao smacks him upside the head.

"I...heard a rumor that Fa Mulan was going to marry a prince in Qui Gong," Mulan says, trying to sound nonchalant. "But...I thought she was with the general."

Mulan is curious as to what they think happened.

"There was an accident. We thought the general was dead," says Chien Po.

"Yeah, I think it really messed up her head," Ling continues. "Cried all night, left us behind, almost got married..."

"She thought he was dead!" Mulan interrupts, harshly. "You can't even imagine how she felt."

She feels Mushu's claws bite into her neck and almost covers her mouth.

"I mean, uh, I can't imagine either."

The men look at her very peculiarly but don't comment. She hears herself swallow hard, and goes back to wrapping the cannons.

Meanwhile, Shang sits in his tent and stares blankly at a map. He's trying to figure out the quickest route to the border, but he can't concentrate. No matter how he tries to focus, Shang's mind always ends up trailing back to Mulan.

 _If Mulan were here, she would know what to do_ , he thinks. _I wonder what she's doing right now._

Shang is starting to feel remorse for leaving her behind. She _is_ a very talented soldier, not to mention an intelligent one too. He can only imagine how belittled she felt being told to stay home, like the common housewife. Then again, if she was killed in battle, Shang couldn't live with himself.

The flap of the tent flutters open and much to his dismay Chi-Fu comes through it.

"General Li," he says nasally, "for once I actually approve your decision. I am much more suited for this job than that _woman_ , and I can tell it will be only a matter of time before the emperor restores my position in place of her."

Shang glares at him from his seat on the floor.

"That _woman_ ," he spits, "is the hero of China. The only reason _you_ are substituting her is because I didn't want her to be killed."

Chi-Fu looks surprised but immediately replaces his expression with a scowl.

"This is the finest company in China. We won't be killed," he sputters.

"Well it certainly looks bleak," Shang returns.

Chi-Fu airily sits on the cushion facing him. "Well if Li Mulan is the so-called hero of China, why isn't she here if it's so _bleak_?

"Because," Shang says irritably, "I didn't want to risk her dying. Even if she did set off another war-winning avalanche, if she got hurt I couldn't live with myself."

Chi-Fu raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're putting your wife's safety above China's?"

Shang is about to protest, but then he remembers that Chi-Fu isn't the emperor's council anymore. So before he leaves the tent, he stops beside him and flashes a sadistic smile.

" _Exactly_."

Shang doesn't bother sticking around to see his flabbergast expression. He needs to get away from that stuffy tent and distract himself from feeling guilty.

Looking around, he sees that everyone seems to be in order. Shang wonders if the trio has made up with Yin because they sit beside him and talk. He smiles. Sometimes Shang forgets that the three are his friends aside from his soldiers.

He decides to join them.

"-the mountains are, uh...really tall," Mulan describes her 'homeland' to Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po. "Lots of magnolias and-"

She stops, pulse quickening, as she watches Shang sit down in the grass beside Ling.

"Aw naw," Mushu whispers.

Shang nods in her direction. "Go on, Yin, you don't have to be too afraid of me. I like making friends believe it or not," he chuckles.

The other three laugh contentedly, but Mulan looks wide-eyed and feels the color drain from her face.

"Um, I have to go actually," she quickly says, "I have to go...feed my horse."

She motions with her arm to where Khan is grazing and Shang looks at her curiously. But he nods.

"You have a good horse for a mountain man, Yin. My wife's looks a lot like it."

Mulan feels the panicked look on her face. She hadn't thought about him recognizing the horse. But before she can say anything else stupid, she runs off clumsily into the valley.

"Dang, we shoulda asked ol' Grandma to give the cow some face paint too," mutters Mushu.

"I forgot about that part," she returns, grabbing Khan's reins.

Mulan pauses for a moment, sharpening her hearing. Was that a twig snapping?

"Girl, I thought the whole point of this was to avoid Shang," he continues. "If you get all buddy-buddy with him, it'll just mess all this up."

"I know, Mushu, I just-"

Then suddenly, two giant burly men run out of the forest and toward her.

()-()-()


	5. Chapter 5

()-()-()

Shang watches the young man scurry off and looks back at the group with a raised eyebrow.

"Yin is certainly an...interesting individual," he remarks.

"Kinda reminds me of somebody we used to know," Yao smirks, nudging him in the shoulder.

"Only this time he isn't really a woman," laughs Ling. "Well, maybe."

They all burst into laughter only to be cut off by a shrill scream. A particularly feminine scream, a scream that sticks a memory in all their minds of Mulan dangling from that rope, watching her love slip away into the canyon.

They all remember that scream very well.

Shang jumps up on his feet fast, and so do they. The noise comes from the valley where Yin had just meandered into. Everyone seems to be thinking the same thing because they all start to run across the strip of forest and down the hill.

Mulan bucks and violently pushes against the two men who'd caught her by surprise. Struggling, she curses herself for not being prepared. She could've taken them down much easier than this.

She sees Shang first and then the trio of men and her heart lifts.

Mulan manages to keep the Mongols from carrying her away until Shang rips one from her arm and she hears a deadly crack. Yao and Chien-Po struggle with the other one until a sword is plunged into his broad chest and he falls with a loud thud.

Mulan is astonished at how winded she is, she can hardly catch her breath. Shang yanks her up on her feet.

"What was that?" he demands.

"I," she gasps, "don't know. I...I think they were Mongol spies."

"Was anyone else here?" he asks, thinking of the scream.

"No," she answers. The men discreetly look at each other with a bit of confusion, but none say a word about the scream that sounded like their hero of China.

Later that night in her tent, Mulan silently packs up her things while Mushu paces around and rants.

"Girl, I bout got squashed!" he yells. "You got any idea how scared I was? I coulda died!"

"Mushu, you're immortal," she returns flatly. "Besides, it turned out fine anyway."

"That," he sputters, "is not the point! The point is that you ain't on your game, and if you gonna be fightin' a thousand of those kinda men, you need to step it up."

"I know, I know," she mumbles. "I don't know why I'm being like this."

"Well, ya better figure it out, girl. You got Mongols to fight," he says.

"Huh," she says suddenly, looking thoughtful.

"What?"

Mulan has wide eyes and distractedly picks at her bottom lip. Mushu becomes worried and crawls up on her knee.

"Mushu, what day is it?" she asks him urgently. He goes over to the burlap sack that holds her belongings and retrieves her calendar.

"Oh no," she whispers, looking at it.

Mulan's menstrual cycle starts over every three weeks. And this is her second skipped in a row.

"What?" Mushu asks, "Forget a birthday?"

"No," she replies quietly. "Mushu, I've missed my past two monthlies."

Slowly he begins to understand what she means. "Wait," he says, "does that mean-"

"I don't know!" she murmurs into her hands.

"Wait, hold up a second," he exclaims, "girl, why is there even a chance? You wasn't even married two hours when he left, how could-"

He gasps loudly, and Mulan winces.

"You little _sneaky_ thing you!" he hollers. "I'm with you all the dang time, and you managed to get past your own guardian without me knowing! And to think, you was doing funny business with-"

"Shang!" she exclaims. "Oh god, I can't even tell him! If he finds out I'm me..."

She covers her face again. "I can't be with-child. I can't do this."

Mushu looks sadly up at her and cups her jaw between his claws. "Hey, if we can get through the whole Hun army, we can deal with this. We can figure it out."

"Mushu, if I really am expecting, what's gonna happen when I start showing," Mulan wonders.

"Well hopefully this thing'll be over by then," he says.

She curls up into a ball and blankly stares at the tent wall.

"If either of us die," Mulan whispers, "Shang will never know he was going to be a father."

The camp arises before dawn the next morning, much to the men's displeasure. Mulan doesn't care, she couldn't sleep anyway, just cried all night. The little doubt she had left is ruined when she finds herself vomiting into a bush.

She mounts Khan uneasily and grimaces when she hears Shang's voice shout, "Move out!"

And she finds the bumpy ride does nothing to help her queasiness.

"Where we goin', anyhow?" asks Mushu.

"The eastern border," she answers, "or somewhere on the way, wherever we meet the Mongols."

Ling slows his horse so that he rides next to Mulan.

"Hi Yin," he calls. "Hey, how're you doing? You look sick."

"I'm fine," says Mulan, remembering her man voice.

"Hey, it's too bad we killed those spies, they could've been helpful," he remarks, probably because they seem to be wandering along the countryside.

"Yeah."

Ling pulls his horse even closer and looks around him before leaning in. "Did you hear about General Shang yet?" he asks.

Mulan raises her eyebrows. "What about General Shang?"

Ling chuckles. "Well rumor has it, a couple buddies of mine were walking by his tent aaand guess what they saw him doing?"

This alarms Mulan. "What?"

" _Crying_. General Li Shang, _crying_. I didn't believe myself, but when he came out to the bonfire to tell us to go to sleep, his eyes were all red."

"Wow," she musters. Ol' hardhead crying. But why? Did he miss her too much? Mulan secretly hopes she is the reason.

"Ling!" somebody yells.

"Coming! See you later, Yin," he says.

The remainder of the daylight is uneventful except for the occasional mis-sighting of a Mongol soldier. As she rides along on Kahn, Mulan ponders her current situation.

 _If I live_ , she thinks, _I am going to have a baby. A child. I am going to be a mother maybe._

Mulan and Shang always wanted children. Infact, had this war not been going on, she would've told him right about now, and he would've been so happy. The whole country would, even. A child born between Li Mulan, hero of China and daughter of the legend Fa Zhou, and Li Shang, son of the great General Li and a general himself. A person with near-perfect lineage.

And it's sad to think for Mulan that the child might not even get to live. If they were at home, what would they name it? What would their child be like? Would it act like them, or maybe not at all?

She looks ahead at Shang, leading the company on his white horse. She can't help but wonder what kind of father he'd be. Loving but stern, she decides.

As Mulan watches the flutter of his red cape, her eye catches something on the nearby cliff. More than one something. Mongol men, one aiming an arrow directly at Shang.

"Shang!" she shouts, speeding Khan ahead.

He looks up in confusion and sees the soldiers. Just as the arrow is released, he reels out of the way and yells "Ambush!"

Five men jump from the cliff and head for Shang, swords drawn. Mulan dismounts and joins the rest of the company, running to the burly men in attempt to kill. One catches Mulan by the arm, and she kicks him hard in the stomach before another sends a sword through his neck.

The fight doesn't last long, it being an entire company against five men. But Mulan can tell they weren't out to kill everyone, probably just Shang. And they were so close.

"It's late," he says. "Set up camp."

So an hour later, Mulan finds herself in the same position she was a night earlier- sitting in her tent arguing with Mushu.

"He ain't gonna kill you if you tell him!" Mushu argues, peeling away Mulan's 'scar' and the rest of her facial extremities.

"Mushu, I've made up my mind," returns Mulan. "He would send me home immediately, not to mention resent me for the rest of his life. I'll be fine, you even said."

She dips her hands into a bowl of water and rinses her face, enjoying the coolness of bare skin while she can.

"Yeah, yeah," mutters Mushu. "By the way, did it ever occur to you to WAIT TILL YOU WERE MARRIED LIKE A DECENT PERSON?"

Mulan rolls her eyes. "Sometimes, things just-"

They are both mute when footsteps become louder and the flap of her tent opens.

"Yin, I never thanked you for-"

Shang stops speaking when he sees exactly who he's talking to.

()-()-()


	6. Chapter 6

()-()-()

Shang blinks, hard. Surely this was just another illusion he was seeing, like he had many times before. But he blinks again and the image of her hasn't disappeared like it usually does. Blinks again, still there. Mulan is sitting before him and so is her queer little lizard-guardian. Shang stares at her, then at Mushu, and then back to her.

"Mulan?" he almost whimpers.

She closes her eyes in defeat, knowing what is about to come. She has disobeyed and betrayed her husband in a most extreme way; Mulan knows that Shang is thinking this. She is the one responsible for dishonoring their marriage. She is unfit to be a wife. And it's only a matter of time before he starts screaming these very things right at her.

"Shang, I-"

"Mulan!" he says again, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Shang grabs her up by the waist and holds her tightly. She gasps at this swift movement, startled and trembling. As he rocks her small frame slowly against his broad chest, a tear involuntarily slides down her cheek and she buries her face in his warm shoulder.

"I missed you," Shang murmurs. "I missed you so much."

"Me too," she replies softly.

Then the gentle swaying slowly comes to a stop as Shang realizes and his face grows serious. He drops Mulan back on to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" he hisses.

"I," she stammers, "I just...I _had_ to be here, Shang-"

"I told you to stay home!" he interrupts harshly. "How did you even stay here without me approving you?!"

She backs up a little for fear of him lashing out. "I'm...Xiang Yin," she mutters.

"Yin?" he spits. "That's impossible, Xiang Yin-"

"Was my great-grandfather. I used his identification and painted my face up as a disguise," she relents.

Shang looks utterly confused. "You- you're Yin?"

He can't wrap his mind around it. How could he be so naïve? The petite soldier that had so reminded him of 'Ping'...was, in fact, Ping. Mulan. _His_ Mulan. She had been with him the whole time he was aching without her. Sleeping a mere ten or so tents away. And then it dawns on him. She was the one the Mongols almost took.

"How could you think this was a good idea?" he says angrily. "I almost lost you last night!"

"How could you think it was a good idea to leave me behind?" she defiantly retorts. "Did you really expect me to stay at home while you were off fighting somewhere? Not knowing if you were dead or alive? You know me, Shang! Did you really think I'd submit to be a useless housewife?"

"I thought you would be loyal," he says coldly.

"I am loyal, Shang!" Mulan exclaims. "I risked everything just to come here and assure myself that you're okay, and that you _stay_ okay! And you wouldn't be after tonight if it weren't for me."

He glares down at her. "I didn't ask for that. I ordered you to stay behind because I don't want you ending up dead. I know you're different, Mulan, but you can't be an exception for everything!"

Mushu nonchalantly picks at a cashew with his claws. "Then I suppose this is a bad time to mention the baby."

"Mushu!" Mulan cries out. Cri-Kee squeaks and dramatically curls up on the ground.

Shang's expression turns blank. "What?" he asks, not sure if he heard right.

"That's what y'all get for sneaking around behind my back," Mushu says. "That ol' Goddess of Fertility sure knows how to show a couple a' dumb kids who's boss."

Shang's eyes widen. He snaps his head back at Mulan, mouth gaping.

"You're-"

She covers her face with shaking hands, afraid of weeping in his presence.

His mind races and Shang finds he can't really grasp the situation. Mulan, his wife, while _once again_ pretending to be a man right under his nose, who was almost killed by Mongols, who saved him from an ambush _once again_ , was with-child! _His_ child! He would be a father in a short while, Mulan was going to have a baby! Shang repeated the last part to himself. Mulan was going to have a _baby_...

"How could you keep this from me?" he utters, backing up against the tent wall numbly.

"I didn't figure it out until yesterday," she answers quietly. "What was I supposed to do, ride up to you and say 'Shang, I'm actually your wife in disguise, and also I'm with-child!'?"

"Yes!" he yells. "That's exactly what you should have done!"

Mulan crosses her arms. "Shang, you're acting like I don't know how to take care of myself." He scoffs at this.

"You call running off to meet your death, with-child, taking care of yourself?!"

Mulan stamps her foot in frustration. "I didn't know!"

Shang wipes his face and groans loudly. "You are to leave immediately," he says stiffly. "You can't be here any longer, Mulan. Go home, and stay there!"

She begins to protest but he angrily snatches her burlap sack and thrusts it in her arms. Shang opens his mouth to say something, halts, and looks at Mulan with anguished eyes. He turns curtly and leaves the tent like a burst of wind. When he steps out into the night, Shang is greeted by what seems the entire company standing before him. They look surprised as if they hadn't expected him to come out at that moment, and many look away ashamedly.

Shang scans the crowd with a glower. "What is it?" he demands.

It's silent except for the buzzing of gnats and the snapping of a glazing campfire. Half-muffled by the tent is the sound of Mulan's sobbing. "What?" he shouts again.

Chien-Po clears his throat tentatively. "We heard you yelling, General," he says simply.

"We thought something was wrong," another man adds.

Shang locks his jaw and mutters only a hard "No."

"It's Fa Mulan in there, isn't it Li?" Chi-Fu announces, more so than asks.

Shang gives him a dangerous look. "My personal life is none of your business," he growls. "Now is there something I should be concerned about or-"

He stops mid sentence as he notices the men's attention averting to the tent behind him. Turning around, Shang sees Mulan standing boldly in the doorway of the canvas flaps. He can't help but think how little and defenseless she looks, wearing only her underclothes and her hair astray from it's topknot, beaded with water from washing her face. Without armor, it's very obvious of her womanhood. She looks skinny and vulnerable against the group of large men.

Mulan can feel all eyes on her. What's the battle plan when you're a half-dressed woman standing in the cold night amidst potentially the most lethal men in China? Oh wait. She's the legendary Fa Mulan, what is she worrying about? Mulan gives an airy toss of her head and hoists the burlap sack over her shoulder. She doesn't bother to look back at her husband as she pushes through the crowd and finds her way to Khan.

()-()-()


	7. Chapter 7

()-()-()

"What a hard head!" Mulan exclaims, gritting her teeth against the bumpy horse ride. Mushu sits in the saddlebag with Cri-Kee chirping angrily beside him.

"Face it girl, you know he's doin' the right thing," he says, "and 'specially with you bein' in your condition."

Mulan rolls her eyes and snaps the reins against Kahn. "Mushu, you know I don't want to be treated like some weak little woman. I'm a hero!"

"You're with-child! You don't need to be slayin' Mongols what with that baby in your belly!" he points out.

"It's not like I'm showing yet." She silently urges the horse to go faster, to take her away from the wretched camp as fast as possible. "I just wanted to figure out how to win this quickly, and then have the baby safely at home."

Mushu scoffs. "Win a war quickly, ha. Girl, just what was in that river water? If Shang never found outta 'bout you, your baby-carryin' butt would be sitting out there in the snow for months! If you wasn't killed yet, anyway. And even if you could hide that bump, what then? Did you really wanna squat out in the middle of the forest to have the baby? Hide the thing in this here bag, with us? Girl, what if it was cryin' and-"

"I get it, Mushu," she mutters. "But it wouldn't take that long."

Mulan slows and eventually comes to a stop as they follow the trail around a hill and to a cliff. They can see the makeshift camp in the distance, nestled in a mountain gorge like a tiny village, illuminated by the moonlight. From what is visible, it looks like all the men have dispersed back into their tents. All except one. Mulan sees his red cape whip against the wind as he slowly walks along the river's edge. Pain stabs in her chest when she watches him sink to the ground and cover his face.

She wonders for a fleeting moment why he's upset, why he isn't happy she's going home. But Mulan realizes for the first time that it very well could've been the last time they'll see each other.

Her pulse races.

In her stubborn rage, she hadn't even bothered to say 'I love you', hadn't bothered to give him one last kiss. He was down there probably beating himself up about the very things. Mulan can't imagine the feeling of knowing you might not see your wife again, and that you left her on bad terms. Knowing that you might not meet your only child.

Shang turns around. He stands and faces the cliff and Mulan, albeit being far away, knows that he is looking at her. She lingers there for a moment, hoping that she can somehow send a silent apology. She feels tears welling up in her eyes and she roughly jerks Kahn away before they spill over.

"Mista' hard head, huh?"

She snaps her head back and shoots Mushu a dangerous look. "I didn't need that comment."

Either of them are quiet for awhile as they find their way back to the main road.

"He just wants to protect you," Mushu tries.

"Don't you think I know that?" Mulan says softly. "I must've made him feel so awful. I never even told him I love him before I left."

"He knew."

The posse stops momentarily at the river to water the horse. Mulan uses the time to quietly vomit into a shrub. Horseback riding is not ideal when you're in your first trimester. As she rinses her mouth with the river water, the thought of Shang troubles her more and more.

"But what if he didn't know?" she blurts, her throat becoming incredibly swollen when she tries to fight back tears. "What if he thinks I hate him for sending me back? What if he's killed and our last conversation was us arguing about me going home?"

Mushu gives her a sad smile. "Killed? Ol' Shanghai? Nah, girl that'll be the day yer cow here starts flyin', Shang ain't gonna let himself die. Not with you to come home to," he adds.

"And this baby." Mulan looks distastefully at the shrub she had defaced. "If it weren't for this damned baby I could've stayed however long it took. And I bet Shang wouldn't even be as angry, had you not told him."

Mushu raises an eyebrow at her dirty look. "Hold up!" he protests. "This ain't the poor child's fault you had to go an' fool around 'fore you was even married, behind my back I might add! And I am your almighty dragon guardian, missy!"

She starts to roll her eyes, but a faint sound makes her stiffen in surprise. Mulan identifies the sound coming from the Yuzhao Pass, way off in the distance. At first it sounds to her like thunder, but she slowly realizes with a sinking feeling that the noise is the pounding of horse's hooves.

The Mongols.

"Mushu..." she trails off, fervently searching her brain for an idea.

"Ah! They comin' for us!" Mushu hollers, diving down into the saddlebag. "Girl, what we gonna do?!"

She looks closer at the pass. "Calm down, almighty dragon guardian," she says, relieved, "they're going in the opposite direction."

Mulan anxiously watches them move through the pass, barely missing the company. They head north near the border, rather than west and in depth into China. _The fools_ , she thinks contemptibly. Her and Mushu look at each other and they both wonder the same thing: had Shang heard the stampede of horses on the other side of the mountain?

The last of them go out of sight and everyone, including the cricket, breathes a sigh of relief.

"Them Mongols were too dang close to the company," comments Mushu. "I'll bet they's scared straight right about now."

Mulan peers again into the pass for a moment, and then shakes her head. "Well, they're gone now."

But she finds that not to be so true when suddenly a giant hand clamps over her mouth.

()-()-()


	8. Chapter 8

()-()-()

-Eight Months Later-

Mulan stumbles along the rocky path, her weak legs crippling with fatigue. Her ratty clothes are soaked with sweat from the blazing heat and they stick to her body stiffly; the hot sun makes her feel dangerously light-headed. Her now very obvious figure isn't exactly cooperating with gravity, either.

"Try to hurry up, Fa Mulan."

A Mongolian soldier named Altan calls over his shoulder, patient but stern. Mulan had learned fast since being kidnapped that the Mongols were actually quite reasonable, perhaps even more so than the Chinese. All twenty or so soldiers, (with the exception of their harsh leader Daritai), had still been taking into consideration that she _is_ a woman, and that she _is_ with-child. Even while they plan to execute her on the steps of the Emperor's Palace.

Mulan uses the last ounce of her strength to push forward and finally collapses onto the hard, scalding ground. She winces as her arms refuse to push herself up.

"Daritai," Altan shouts ahead, "I think we must have the woman sit in the wagon for awhile. She _has_ walked nearly fifty miles today, and she looks like she could give birth at any time. We wouldn't want to kill her from over-exertion, and where her people can't see, I might add."

"I'll allow it," Daritai returns gruffly.

Altan effortlessly yanks Mulan up off the ground. She feels very grateful for him saying that, even the last part.

"Thank you," she whispers hoarsely, gripping his forearm for support as she staggers her way to the wagon. Mulan settles down between two crates and lets out a blissful sigh. She hadn't rested a second since dawn, fifty treacherous miles away. Thankfully the child showed no signs of arriving yet, unlike what Altan had suggested. But she's at the point where she wonders if it'll be inside of her or not by the time her head's cut off.

If only she had Mushu with her, he would've came up with a plan eight months ago. But the soldier that grabbed her had literally thrown her on his horse and went full speed back to their camp, too fast for her trusty animal friends to realize what had happened right away. Since then, Mulan has spent the entirety of her pregnancy marching alongside the small Mongol company headed to the Imperial City to, surprise-surprise, take down the Emperor. And from what Mulan has heard, the several Mongolian companies are doing quite successfully in invading China over the past months.

Is Shang dead? Was the company killed? she wonders nearly every moment of each day. Perhaps Mushu went back to the camp and told Shang about her kidnapping. Perhaps Mushu decided not to tell him and try to save her all his own. Perhaps Mushu panicked and has been wallowing in self-pity for the whole eight months. It kills her not to know anything, especially that Shang either thinks she's at home and fine or kidnapped and possibly dead.

Mulan takes the time in the wagon to carefully pull off her boots to pour the blood out of them. It's a good thing she never had vanity about her feet like most women, because right now they look a little too similar to a freshly skinned animal. But really, her feet are the least of her concerns, there are plenty of other things to worry about. For now she's just going to enjoy her wagon ride.

-Meanwhile, On The Opposite Side Of The Imperial City-

"How many casualties was that, General?"

Shang numbly stares at the stream where he's watering his horse. "Seventeen. Thirty-two, total. We're down to our last ten men."

Ling looks sadly down the cliff where the battle had just taken place, where the bodies of their comrades still lay in the dirt. They had just barely managed to retreat through a pass and lose the remaining soldiers of the Mongolian company. But it was too late, for seventeen.

"Well the draft went out months ago. Surely there are some companies doing well," Ling tries.

Shang looks up at him with a cold gaze. "We're down to our last ten men," he repeats. "Thirty-four of China's best soldiers are dead. If the majority of our finest have been killed, how do you think the other companies are doing?"

Ling looks solemnly at Chien-Po and Yao, who stand beside him glumly.

"Hey, Mul-"

Ling stops himself but not before getting a hard stare from Shang's eyes, burning. After awhile, he grimaces and shakes his head slowly.

"Nevermind," he utters. "I speak for myself and everyone when I say that we should just accept the fact that she's dead."

"Don't say that, man!" Mushu whispers, dragging his tail in the dirt as he walks up to the stream. "My girl wouldn't ever let herself get kilt. I just know she wouldn't."

Shang glares at him. "Well maybe I _wouldn't_ be saying it had you just-"

"Don't you think I know that? I know it's my fault! And really, I could say somethin' about you not lettin' her come with y'here in the first place, but I don't wanna keep playin' the blame-game," Mushu retorts. "That ain't gonna bring her back."

"He's right, General," Chien-Po adds quietly.

They stand there in silence except for the sound of the babbling brook and their skinny horses slurping it greedily. Shang sighs.

"We need to start moving fast," he says. "I have it under good authority that the Mongols are headed to the Imperial City to take it over."

The men raise their eyebrows in surprise, but it doesn't faze them very much.

"They took Mulan, and there's no way in hell I'm going to let them take this country."

()-()-()


	9. Chapter 9

()-()-()

Mulan groans inwardly as she drops the blade again.

It's the middle of the night, the soldiers are asleep in their tents, and she's trying to use her sash to drag a nearby sword into her reach so that she might cut the chain on her locked cage. Yes, cage. Mulan has spent the last eight months sleeping in a cage like a trapped rat. Which, makes sense actually, because through all of her escape attempts she's had to act quiet as a mouse to not get caught.

Mulan tries once more, holding both ends of the cloth and throwing it through the bars for it to clench around the sword handle. She grins and pulls it toward the cage slowly, as not to lose grip again. Finally, she grabs the handle. She gets a little too excited when she pulls it through, it clangs loudly against the metal bars.

Her eyes widen in fright. The sleeping guard sitting a few feet away from the cage, who is owner to the sword, rolls over on the dirt ground. Mulan prays fervently to her ancestors that he doesn't wake up, and he doesn't. She takes a deep breath and slowly plunges the sword into the earth. Each time she pulls it against the chain, a screeching noise reverberates and she looks up anxiously at the guard.

 _Screech. Screech. Scree-ee-eech._ It's just starting to make an indentation when a loud bugle sounds through the campsite and Mulan drops the sword in surprise. The guard jumps to his feet and she pushes the sword away to its original spot, fast as lightning. Her heart beats a million times a minute.

The guard yawns and moseys over to the cage, grinning at her. "You're lucky," he says. "Today you won't have to walk a single mile."

Mulan knows why, but humors the guard anyway. "Why is that?" she asks quietly.

"Because this is how we'll be taking you into the Imperial City, of course," he says, gesturing to the cage.

Mulan nods, curtly. She had accepted her fate long ago. Still, that didn't mean she had to stop trying to escape, but she had become accustomed to the idea of death. At least the child would hardly suffer. Had Mulan given birth in the custody of the Mongols, she doesn't want to imagine what they'd do to it.

Five men lift the cage into the wagon and the oxen moves forward with a jolt. Mulan had always thought that the moments before your death must feel so frightening, but she is strangely at peace. Perhaps it's because she's had time to think about it. In fact, as she kneels to pray inside that metal cage, she doesn't even think to pray to be saved. She only prays that Shang is already dead so he won't have to suffer through the news of her execution.

-Meanwhile, At The Chinese Camp-

Shang watches curiously as the two scouts he'd sent out sprint breathlessly up the hill.

"General Li! General Li!" they shout, panting hard and clumsily making their way back to the other eight men.

Their tone alarms Shang. "What is it?" he questions. "What have you found out?"

One of the scouts, Ri, boldly grabs his shoulders. "Fa Mulan! She's alive!"

"Ah! I told you so!" Mushu hollers, leaping out of Khan's saddlebag with joy. "I told all y'alls she'd be fine, but nope! Ain't _nobody_ had faith, nobody 'cept me! Oh, happy, happy day!"

"What?!" Shang gasps, disbelieving. "Where is she?! What have you-"

"We went into the Imperial City," interrupts Yen, "Everyone is talking about it! The Mongols are occupying it tonight and they're supposed to execute her on the steps of the Palace! They've had her this entire time!"

"WHAT?!" shouts Mushu, eyes bulging out of his little head. "No!"

 _She's alive? They've had her this entire time?_ Shang repeats to himself. _Those savages have been with her longer than I have! Has she been tortured, raped? Has our child been born, have they..._ For a fleeting moment, his lower lip starts to quiver and his hard black eyes look soft. But he blinks and bites his lip and barks out a booming "Move out!".

The nine men are quick to adhere. They scramble to mount their horses and Shang, a light feeling in his abdomen and a million questions racing behind his eyes, jumps onto his and flies down the hill without pausing. Far in the distance, the red sun rises behind the tall gates of the Imperial City.

()-()-()

 _Boom. Boom. Boom._ The giant bass drums beat ominously as Mulan's cage is led down the main road in the Imperial City. She doesn't bother to open her eyes and see the distraught citizens who line the street; she can hear their gasps, their cries 'No! It's Li Mulan!', their screams of terror caused by Mongolian soldiers. 'The child! Spare her and the baby!' she hears periodically from a heartbroken woman, whom she predicts is a mother herself.

 _I hope Shang is dead_ , Mulan thinks to herself. _Then at least I'll be with him in the afterlife. Besides, if he is alive, there's no way he's going to save me now._

The parade stops at the steps of the Palace. Symbols crash loudly on either side of Mulan, and she thinks contemptibly that the awful soldiers have no right to touch the beautiful ancient Chinese instruments.

Daritai emerges from the covered carriage that had been drawn in front of the wagon. He descends to the first landing, walking proudly in his gold-plated uniform, and his ebony black hair rolled perfectly into a topknot. Mulan had never been quite as intimidated by him as she had been about Shan Yu. Daritai was a large man, but would've looked like a child compared to the Hun leader. Daritai's hard expression paled in comparison to his deadly glare. How ironic that she'd been able to defeat the giant, monster-like warrior, but is defeated herself by a man he wouldn't of had in his army.

"People of China," he roars, "I am your new leader! Once the empire is overthrown, Mongolia will be expanded to your land!"

The crowd of thousands shout angry exclamations and Daritai grins in reply. He turns to the giant wooden doors behind him and shouts, "Bring forth the Emperor!"

The doors swing open and three Mongolian soldiers hold onto the frail old man as they pull him down the stairs easily. Mulan watches from her cage and feels a pang in her chest for the wise man she looked up to so much. The crowd cries out in agony.

"Don't worry," Daritai says slyly. "We have someone else to get to before your precious leader."

Suddenly, the cage door swings open and Mulan is yanked from it. Two of the soldiers that had once treated her with such respect now carry her roughly by each of her arms. They throw her at the feet of Daritai, and Mulan tries to look at her people with dignity as they scream her name in despair.

"We didn't know we were going to kidnap the heroine of China," he boasts, "But your woman-savior evidently isn't as perfect at planning as she lets on. And how else would we celebrate the fall of China than by executing not only your best soldier,"

Daritai gestures with his sword toward Mulan's stomach.

"But also the unborn child of your General Li?"

She does not give him the satisfaction of her reaction, but kneels there with pride showing in her face. She is _not_ about to die a coward.

He kicks her in the side and she lowers herself with a moan. "To the fall of China!" he roars.

Mulan can see out of the corner of her eye the sword being raised. _I deserve this_ , she thinks sadly. _This is_ _what I get for trying to prove everyone wrong._ She sends a few silent prayers and waits for the worst.

()-()-()


	10. Chapter 10

()-()-()

For what seems like an eternity, the silence is deafening. Suddenly, Mulan hears the people gasp and shout and she knows what has happened. But if she's been decapitated, why can she still hear the fast beating of her heart? How can she feel the soft breeze whipping at her neck? Is she still alive? Mulan tests this theory by trying to open her eyes. They open alright, and her nose is filled with the pungent aroma of blood.

Her vision focuses. She tentatively lifts her head to see the crowd exactly where she left them, but this time something's different. Standing in the gateway is somebody chillingly-familiar; he sits on his white horse with his fingers still on the bow string, the bow still aimed at a target directly behind Mulan. And she doesn't have to turn around to know who that target was, or if the arrow met his skull. But then it finally sinks in.

"Shang!" she screams, a throaty sound resonating from her chest as she jumps to her feet, lunging across the landing. For a split second she sees his face and so much joy has never surged through her body, like adrenaline almost.

Then a strong hand grabs her face and another clenches around her waist, and the next thing she knows, she's being carried up the flights of stairs in a flash. She can see her name form on Shang's lips and she watches in horror as an arrow strikes his collarbone.

"Shang!" she screams again, this time not happily in the least. As the giant door slams behind her, she watches the Mongolian soldiers charge at her husband and few comrades. Mulan is completely helpless.

()-()-()

"Hurry!" Shang yells at the soldiers. The gate to the Emperor's Palace is in view now, just down the street. It's only a matter of seconds and a few men have dismounted to drag the heavy doors open. They hardly budge at first, but with the help of Chien-Po they give with ease.

All ten gasp at the sight before them.

The Mongolian leader has his sword drawn high in the air, about to swing down upon a kneeling Mulan.

"No!" is the strangled cry from Mushu, who leaps off of Kahn's saddle. Shang, fast as lightning, draws up his bow, slings an arrow, and does not hesitate to release it into the Mongol's forehead. The entire crowd gasps; everyone is frozen with shock.

Shang watches her small body remain completely still at the edge of the tile landing. After a while, she slowly raises her head and he feels his heart pounding in his chest. His breathing becomes very heavy with his rising emotions and he watches her find him excitedly.

"Shang!" he hears her scream. Mulan starts across the landing and her new figure makes his breath catch in his throat; he'd almost forgotten about the child. All he can think is, _She's alive! The baby's alive! This is real! She's really here! This is real!_

But then as quickly as she had gotten up, Shang watches with dismay as a Mongol grabs her again and flees away up the stairs. Panic floods his vision. _No!_ he thinks fretfully. _I can't lose her again!_

"Mulan!"

The wind is knocked out of Shang as the force of an arrow throws him from the stallion. It sticks to his chest, but luckily is only armor-deep and he yanks it out, rage beginning to boil in his blood. Mongolian soldiers trample the body of their dead leader as they race down the stairs and toward the gate entrance. But, as Shang looks back at his nine men drawing their swords and then back to the fifty Mongols, he has no fear.

Shang practically rips his sword from its sheath and swings it with perfect precision, slicing the necks of two Mongols. They collapse to ground. As he continues to swing with a mad fury, he briefly glances to his sides and finds that his soldiers are fighting with the same passion, much to his satisfaction. But they are still outnumbered by dozens.

"General Li, look out!" somebody calls. He ducks just in time for a blade to graze his back. _We're not going to win with just ten men_ , he thinks remorsefully. Then he has an idea. Shang grabs on to a metal post and hoists himself above the warpath.

"Loyal citizens," he shouts as loud as he can, "help us take back China! Join the fight!"

An arrow whizzes by his ear just as he drops to the ground and promptly plunges his sword into a Mongol's chest. A roar from the crowd goes up and he knows, gratefully, that he'd been heard.

Suddenly, men and even a group of women charge toward the gate; farmers yielding their pitchforks, others holding small blades and sharp objects. The four women in particular fall behind the front lines, hoist themselves into a nearby balcony, and fling large vases among other items they find in the house toward the Mongolian side.

 _If it weren't for Mulan, I bet these women wouldn't even be here_ , Shang thinks, a sly grin on his face as he watches a porcelain pot shatter against a Mongol's head. Then he remembers.

"Mulan!" he exclaims suddenly. "Chien-Po, Yao, Ling- cover me, I have to go find her!"

The men, fighting back-to-back with him, all spit out a 'Yes, General!' and Shang ducks away to sprint up the steps. _I'm not losing her again_ , he says to himself. _I can't_.

()-()-()

"Mushu!" Mulan gasps. His little body slithers under the door, and she snatches him up immediately. The soldier had locked her in one of the chambers with plans to use her as hostage, but left his position as guard to help fight.

"I jus' knew you were alive!" he says. "All dem other guys lost hope about'cha, but I never ever did!"

"I missed you," she murmurs, squeezing him in a hug.

"Woah girl," Mushu says, noticing her protruding stomach for the first time. "This kid's 'bout ready to pop!"

"It is, actually," she mutters, grinding her teeth over another wave of pain. He raises an eyebrow.

"You don't mean-"

"I've had cramps all day but I thought it was because I'm dehydrated," she whispers. "My water broke ten minutes ago."

"What?! We gotta getcha out of here, girl!"

She grimaces. "I know. I don't know when that guard is coming back, but I don't want to be here when he does. Not like this."

"Wait," he says, "I got an idea. Cri-Kee!"

The lucky cricket chirps happily in response, but then squalls when Mushu pinches him between his claws. With his other hand he twists Cri-Kee's antennas into a thin wire, then sticks them into the lock in the door. After some jiggling, it clicks open.

"One lucky cricket," Mushu says with a toothy grin. Cri-Kee scowls and pulls on his antennas sorely.

"Alright y'all, let's get this show on the road!" he announces, pulling a very uncomfortable Mulan by her hand down the grand hallway.

"Mushu," she groans, "I don't think I can move for very much longer."

He sighs. "Alright, alright, I know. C'mon, I saw a place down these stairs, you're just gonna have to make it for a lil while more, c'mon, you can do it."

Mulan moans, stumbling down the steps. "I'm going to have to deliver my own child," she says irritably. "Who has to deliver their own child? Nobody except the hero of China, that's who."

Mushu tugs on her finger. "Well, if you can save the whole dang country all by y'self, I think you can pull a baby outta your belly all by y'self, now c'mon, we're almost there."

The door to the chamber is agape and she looks inside of it. The room is no bigger than her family temple and includes a two frail bamboo cots, probably meant for a pair of maidservants or concubines, a few brooms, and a water basin.

Mulan sniffles and starts to cry a hiccuping sob. "Shang might be dead by now," she weeps, shakily lowering herself onto the cot, "and I have to have my baby in a closet!"

"There, there," Mushu sympathizes, patting her back comfortingly. "It'a be all over soon. You just gotta get the hard part over with now."

Mulan groans and bangs her head against the wall, exhausted. "Aah, I hate the sound of your voice, it's so irritating! Go away! Leave me alone to die! I said go away, you stupid lizard!" she yells, her contractions now continuous and more severe than ever.

Mushu wonders whether he should pray to the ancestors, but he knows it'll take a lot more than some grumpy old ghosts to help them now.

"Love you too, girlie," he sighs.

()-()-()


	11. Chapter 11

()-()-()

"She's so tiny," Mulan whispers, watching her newborn sleep peacefully in her arms, swaddled with the thin cotton blanket that lay on the cot.

 _She is so perfect_ , Mulan marvels. She gently runs the pad of her thumb across her full, rosy cheeks. Then her eyes open; black and twinkling as night and rimmed with thick lashes. Her perfect little nose crinkles up and she looks as if she's going to cry but instead yawns, her full pink lips making a perfect 'o'.

"I can't believe I'm actually a mother," Mulan sighs. "I am completely responsible for this little human. And I love her more than anything in the world." She fingers the wild tuft of soft black hair and smiles blissfully.

"What are you gonna name her?" Mushu asks softly. He had _humbly_ offered to search for Shang after one look below her legs, but didn't end up finding him. When he came back, he was greeted by a squalling infant Mulan was trying so desperately to hush. But the baby turned out to be a pretty mellow thing, much to her gratefulness, and she fell asleep quickly.

"I like Mei-Rong," she says. "But I don't know what Shang would want. I don't even know if he wants her at all, since she isn't a son."

"What?!" Mushu blurts. "Are you kidding me, girl? Shang's gon' just adore that lil thing, he don't care if it's not a boy! Dang, you must'a really hit your head what when them Mongols were handling you."

"I don't know, Mushu," she persists, "Shang would want a first-born son to take over his position when he dies. That's kind of his family tradition."

"Yeah," he adds sarcastically, "and men joinin' the army is our family tradition."

She rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean."

A thunderous cheer goes up from outside the small slit of a window. Mulan slips off of the cot and looks out of it. Many lay dead on the steps of the palace and from what she can see, they must be Mongols because the Chinese are the ones cheering.

"They're all dead?" Mushu asks incredulously.

"That can't be right," answers Mulan, "They told me they had dozens of companies, all over China. And they were all supposed to be-"

Her voice trails off as she peers into the distance. Where she can barely make out the hundreds of horses on the mountain in the pale moonlight.

"No! Oh no! Mushu, we have to go warn them!" she exclaims.

"Wait, what about the baby? You can't run out there with it!" he tells her.

Mulan says nothing but looks at him and back to the baby.

"Mulan," Mushu warns, "you are not gonna run out there with the dang kid! It ain't even thirty minutes old!"

"Well I can't just leave her all by herself!" she protests, looking anxiously at the sleeping infant.

"Oh, yes you can!" Mushu retorts. "How the heck are you gonna jus' waltz right in to the war-zone with a baby in your arms?"

"Um," she murmurs, looking around the room, "with this."

She lifts up a small woven basket, just the right size to fit a newborn baby. It has two long handles so that she can easily carry it over her shoulder, and a curved cover so she can close it and the baby can still breathe, keeping the basket under her arm and out of harm's way.

"Mulan," he warns again, "as your almighty dragon guardian, I am telling you to stay put in this room with that child WHERE IT'S SAFE, and ancestors help me, if you take one step out that door-"

She yanks the other cotton blanket from the second cot and fits it in the basket as cushioning. Then she re-swaddles the baby tightly and places her inside, latching the top securely. Mulan places it under her arm. Mushu sighs.

"You're crazy!" he says, perching with Cri-Kee on the lid of the basket. "This is crazy!"

"Crazy enough to work," she answers, heading out into the hallway.

"Ain't you sore anyhow?" he questions. "Girl, what you need to be doin' right now is resting."

"I'm fine," Mulan says, trying to ignore the pain. "Anyway, here's the plan..."

()-()-()

"This place is too big," Shang mutters. "Mulan could be anywhere."

The palace seems deserted; he hadn't seen a single Mongol in it yet. Or anyone for that matter. But he isn't going to give up anytime soon with Mulan being took hostage somewhere, or perhaps even dead. He hurries down a flight of stairs and is about to turn the corner when he sees a door, ajar.

"Hello?" he calls. Shang steps inside what appears to be a closet or concubines' chamber, but something is definitely amiss. One of the two cots in the chamber is stained with blood and other fluids he cannot identify.

"What the-" He carefully walks around the room, examining the bed, an overturned water basin, what appear to be strips of cloth. The blood on the bed is dried but looks fairly new. _Who died here?_ he wonders. Lifting the water basin with the toe of his boot, he immediately drops it with a shudder. Underneath it lies a gory intestine, and he instantly knows that whatever happened in this room was something gruesome.

Shang hovers over the bed and lifts the straw pillow to see if any weapons are under it, but instead of a blade, there's a small magnolia blossom hairpin.

The same hairpin he's watched Mulan fix into her hair dozens of times.

"Mulan!" he gasps. "No!"

 _No, she can't be dead!_ he thinks wildly. _I just found her! She can't be dead! No! She can't be dead! I just found her!_

He covers his face with his hands, millions of thoughts flashing in his eyes. _Those goddamn Mongols, I'm going to rip out all of their-_

 _Wait a minute. If we killed all of the Mongols, who killed her? And why wouldn't they kill her in front of everybody, why in some closet? And why wouldn't they lock the door? And where's her body?_

Shang stares at the hairpin, his gaze shifting to the overturned water basin, and then to the cot, and then back at the hairpin. And then he remembers a very crucial detail that had been slipping his mind lately.

"She had the baby," he whispers.

()-()-()


	12. Chapter 12

()-()-()

A searing pain in Mulan's lower region makes her stumble a bit as she lands on the hard ground, but she ignores it and sprints along the top of the guard wall to get behind a wide post. The baby mews from beneath the basket cover.

"Shh," she whispers, slipping a finger beneath the lid for her to grasp. The baby hiccups and stops whimpering.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Mushu asks. "I mean, other than climbin' out a window and droppin' y'self on this wall to see what's going on. 'Cause that wasn't a very good plan."

"I don't know," Mulan says, "I'm sort of making it up-"

"As you go along, I get it," he cuts off, crossing his arms. "Girl, that ain't the first time I've heard that one. Would it kill ya to ever have a plan?"

"It worked last time!" she protests. Mulan peers out from the post and surveys the court. Bodies dressed in Mongolian uniforms litter the plaza and people are cheering and singing. She spots a handful of men in Chinese armor, thanks to Chien-Po's massive stature.

"Mushu, I don't see Shang with the group," Mulan says fretfully. Mushu looks unfazed.

"Yeah," he returns, "he probably went inside to look for your baby-birthin' butt."

"You're right," she realizes. "But we don't have time to find him, we have to warn the others!"

"Mulan, I don't think the others'll be able to face all them Mongols," Mushu predicts. "What we need is another avalanche!"

Mulan looks out into the distance at the shadows on the mountain. No, another avalanche wouldn't do any good. Then her eyes fall onto something else. The dam.

"I have an idea," she announces.

They turn the corner on the wall and Mulan leans over the rail, now facing the plaza head-on.

"Hey! Up here!" she shouts. "Citizens! Look here! Hey!"

People gradually notice her and start to point, getting the attention of others. Somebody yells, 'It's Li Mulan!', resulting in a thunderous cheer. She motions her arms for them to quiet down, irritated a little because of their lack of time. The noise diminishes.

"Be prepared to fight! More Mongols are coming! They're on the mountain, I see them!" she hollers, pointing to the hills behind the Imperial City.

Mulan doesn't remain on the wall long enough to see how they react. She unties her sash and slides down a red post, landing on the ground outside of the gates. Tied to a corral a few yards away, is her childhood friend she thought she'd never see again.

"Kahn!" she exclaims. Mulan wraps her arms around the horse's neck with a wide grin.

"Don't worry," Mushu jeers, "we've been keepin' your cow warm for ya."

She mounts and places the basket carefully in the saddlebag. "Aiya!" she jolts the horse forward.

A rickety horse ride is definitely not something a brand new baby could be used to, especially one that's spent the majority of her life inside of a dark container. She starts to wail from inside the saddlebag.

"Mushu, can you get in the basket and try to calm her down?" Mulan suggests. Then she hears a loud sniffle.

"Are you crying?" she asks.

Mushu sniffles again. "Naw, I just got some dust in my- YES I'm crying, girl whatchu think? My li'l baby's all grown up and- and has a baby! And I ain't thought about it like that 'till now what with all the drama!"

She laughs. "Oh, Mushu."

"I done told ya dragons are emotional creatures!" He slips underneath the lid, Cri-Kee chirping behind him. "Ow!" he yipes, "This one's got a grip!"

They pass an explosives shop and Mulan comes to a halt. "Mushu!" she calls. "We're gonna need your little fireworks show again!"

"I'm already on it!"

()-()-()

With a burlap sack filled entirely of the most explosive TNT, Mulan urges Kahn forward up the hill to the gorge.

"The Mongols are going to be crossing the valley below the dam," she explains. "We need to blow up the dam just as all the troops are traveling below, so the water floods out and drowns them. It's the only way we're going to kill the dozens of companies before they reach the Imperial City."

"Nice, usin' a giant body of precipitation to your advantage once again. I like it!" Mushu adds.

"Now," Mulan starts, "we're going to have to string the explosives together and dangle them over the edge so that the middle gives away. Otherwise, it won't be effective. Then we can take the fireworks and shoot it at the dam from a distance, so the dynamite's set off without us getting blown up."

"That sounds like a plan to me!" he replies.

They dismount Kahn and she dumps the content of the sack onto the grass. "We have to hurry," she says, "they'll start across any minute."

So they begin stringing the sticks of dynamite together, tying the ignition strings together with knots, and soon enough they have a long, lethal rope.

"I'll go across the dam and attach this," Mulan decides. "You stay here and get the fireworks ready."

"Alright," Mushu agrees, as she sprints across the top of the dam with the string of TNT trailing behind her. The Mongols are very visible now. They stampede down the mountain like a herd of wild bulls, almost reaching the wide valley below the dam.

"Cri-Kee!" he calls. "We gotta set this up fast, man, c'mon!"

He pulls out the stand for the large firework cannon, entitled 'Chinese Fireball', and the cricket tries to help him aim it.

"Is this good?" he asks. Cri-Kee can't really tell due to his height, but nods with a squeak.

Mushu inspects the bottom of the firework, confused. "Hey, how'd this get all wet? Dang it, it won't work if the ignition's wet!" He blows on it and tries to fan the beads of water off of the bottom. It's only moments later when he realizes by doing this, his breath set the ignition string on fire.

"Oh n-"

 _BOOM!_ The fireworks burst off into the black sky, trailing upwards and nowhere near the dam wall. There's a loud crackle as it bursts into an array of colors, shimmering.

Mulan stops in place coming back across the dam. She immediately turns to Mushu with a furious scowl and places her hands on her hips.

"I did not mean for that to happen!" he wails, pulling his ears over his eyes in dismay. Mulan sprints back over to the spot, snatches him up, and heads back across the dam.

"Ah!" he screams. "Mulan! We're gonna die doin' this!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have set off our only firework!" she retorts angrily.

The Mongols are now heading across the dirt valley, some of them stopped in surprise wondering where the giant firework came from. Mulan and Mushu get to the rope and she looks below at the edge of the mountain.

"That's the last of them!" she cries. "Now, Mushu!"

She yanks his tail like she did when setting off the avalanche. Once it's lit, she takes off right away, running as fast as her body can carry her. They're almost to the grass when the first deafening explosion goes off. Mulan is thrown from the stone walkway and lands on the ground again, her ears ringing and her vision dancing. Kahn reels up at the sound and starts to take off, but she manages to grab his rein through her dizzy state. She leaps up on the saddle and he practically flies away from the scene, down the hill and back into the countryside as the explosions become less and less loud. The infant screams from inside of the basket.

Mulan, still unable to catch her breath, slows the horse to a steady gallop and steers him up a tall hill far enough away that the explosions are a little audible. She slides off the saddle and pulls the poor howling thing out of the saddlebag.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers, rocking the child against her chest. "I love you so much! I am the world's worst mother!" The baby still wails but not as loudly because her throat is most likely raw and her little lungs are probably wore out.

"I'm so sorry!" Mulan whispers again. She feels horrible. Newborns should never be exposed to noises that loud, especially that close. Why didn't she listen to Mushu? She would've been fine if she'd just left her there!

Mulan cradles the child delicately and wanders up the slope to the edge of the cliff, where she can see the now-flooded valley in the distance. Some sticks still go off and explode into miniature fireworks, which look lovely above the gushing water in the dark night. As they view the scene before them, the sound of a horse's hooves start out almost indistinguishable but eventually both Mulan and Mushu notice it and they turn around, prepared to fight.

The white stallion stops with a jolt. "Mulan!"

()-()-()


	13. Chapter 13

()-()-()

 _My god, this is real!_ is all Shang can muster to think.

He jumps off the saddle and in one swift motion, takes a step and grabs Mulan up, almost crushing her with his strong arms.

"Shang!" she cries out, her head pressed against his broad chest, which heaves breathlessly. He cups the back of her neck and buries his face on the top of her head.

"I love you, Mulan," he murmurs. "I never said it when you left and you almost died. You have to know that now! You have to know I really do love you!"

"Of course I knew that," she answers with a shaky laugh, "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you either."

The baby lets out a feeble whimper from being smashed between her mother's arms and her father's torso. Shang's ears perk up at the sound and he pulls away in surprise.

"Oh my god!" he whispers. He gazes down at the tiny infant in awe and Mulan pushes her gently into his trembling arms.

"She's a girl, Shang," she reluctantly says. "I'm sorry it's not a son, but you know I couldn't possibly control-"

"Why would I care if it's a son or not?" he interrupts, stroking the child's head. "I'm just happy you're both okay! And I know she's going to be just like you, why wouldn't I want a little girl?"

She raises her eyebrows. "Oh. Well I just figured that you'd want a first-born son to take over your position someday."

"Any son of ours will do," he chuckles. "I'm not that old-fashioned! And who knows, maybe she _will_ take over my position someday."

She cocks her head a little, pleasantly surprised. "That's...that's great you think that!"

"What do you want to name her?" he asks.

Mulan is hesitant, still trying to decide if he's truly happy. "Well," she starts, "I was kind of thinking Mei-Rong, but I understand if-"

"Beautiful glory?" he interrupts again, turning his head to witness a firework explode against the black night. He softly laughs. "That's perfect, Mulan. So perfect."

Mulan, now entirely relieved, sighs with joy and slips her arms around his middle, leaning her head against his shoulder. He counters by pulling her chin toward his, and he presses his lips against hers with an insistent, tender kiss. She smiles against his mouth and her eyes flutter open.

"I missed you," she whispers.

"'Aight lovebirds, break it up," intervenes Mushu, hopping up on her shoulder. "Don't want the whole country to watch ya make another baby now."

Mulan looks up. "The whole country?"

Her and Shang see them at the same time. What looks like the entire attendance from the Emperor's Palace running over the hills on the worn dirt road, cheering jubilantly.

"How do they know I got the Mongols?" Mulan wonders.

"I came back outside when we heard the explosions," Shang says. "I knew it had something to do with you, so I took off right away. As I was leaving, someone in a guard tower shouted that you blew up the dam, and they all started celebrating. They must've started following me after I left."

"Oh," she giggles. It still makes her feel a bit bashful whenever people cheer and shout for her saving of the country. "All that, just for me?"

Shang rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "Don't be so humble, heroine of China."

The stampede of citizens parade over the hill, now shouting in a syncopated rhythm, "Mu-lan! Mu-lan! Mu-lan!" The front of the line pools around the base of the hill, and they cheer even louder when they spot her and Shang with the child.

"I don't know, Mushu," Shang comments, "maybe I _do_ want the whole country to watch me give affection to my wife."

And before he can protest, Shang wraps the arm that doesn't hold the infant around Mulan's waist and bends her over in another passionate kiss. The now-extremely thunderous cheering fades away in her ears as her mind wanders into a blissful façade.

()-()-()

"Mulan!" she hears her mother cry from the echoey stone porch. Shang helps her step down from the carriage that he'd ordered to be drawn behind Kahn and his white stallion, given her post-partum state and the simple fact that newborns should not be subject to three-day horseback rides. Yes, their still untouched estate was still waiting behind in the Imperial City, but Mulan insisted that they go back to her home village first, to which Shang agreed.

"Oh, my precious daughter!" Fa Li exclaims, squeezing Mulan the instant she steps onto the ground, to her surprise.

"Mama, Baba, I missed you!" she says. She extends an arm around her father's torso as her other one is stuck between her and her short mother, who does not relent in embracing her.

"Aiya! Mulan, I nearly forgot!" exclaims Fa Zhou, pulling away. "The village got word from the messenger that the Mongols brought you to the Imperial City with-child! And you delivered it!"

"Have you really kept a Mongolian...bastard?" Li ends in a whisper.

Shang and Mulan share a brief confused glance. "Mama," she says, "I was never raped when I was with the Mongols. Shang is the father of my child."

Li looks bewildered and raises an eyebrow in surprise. "But you weren't even married-"

Zhou clears his throat loudly. "Where is our grandchild?" he asks, before his wife can continue. Shang reaches back into the carriage and pulls out the baby basket; a new one actually meant for carrying babies. Her parents sigh at the sight of the sleeping infant.

"She's a girl," Mulan says. "We've named her Mei-Rong."

"Beautiful glory," they note simultaneously. "How lovely!" Li adds.

"Lovely indeed!"

Mulan turns her head. "Grandma!" she proclaims. The even shorter woman hugs her tightly and lets out a low rumbling chuckle.

"I told you my plan would work," she declares proudly. Shang laughs, lifting the baby from the basket and handing her to Li.

"So it was you who gave Mulan the idea of changing her face," he says with a grin. "I must admit, she would've gotten away with it had I not caught her in between re-doing it."

"Oh my!" says Li, "Do tell us what all happened!"

Zhou fondles Mei-Rong's tiny fingers and gives a loving smile to his daughter. "Why don't we go inside?" he suggests. "It's probably a long story."

"It is," Mulan returns. She looks up at Shang, who has just a hint of a proud smile, and she laces her fingers through his large ones. He squeezes her hand.

The family starts to filter into the house but Mulan stays put. "Are you coming?" Shang asks, stopping by the door.

"In a minute," she answers. She wants to use the time to talk to her almighty dragon guardian before he runs off and throws another fiesta with the ancestors. He hops out from the carriage onto her shoulder.

"We did it, Mushu," she tells him. "Again. Hopefully next time China needs saving, Shang won't be such a hardhead about letting me go. That would've saved me a lot of sorrow."

"Yeah," he mutters, glum.

"What's wrong?" Mulan asks. The cricket chirps from the carriage window, and from what she can see he rolls his eyes.

"It's just..." Mushu starts. "Well, now you done saved China three times, and ya got Shang to protect you, and now ya even got a little baby of your own."

"What are you getting at?" she asks suspiciously.

"You don't need me anymore," he says.

"What? Mushu, I'll always need you," she protests. "You're my guardian, you have to be by my side to get through all the tough things in life. Of course I need you!"

His red ears stick straight up and his eyes are round as wheels. "Really? You mean it?" Mushu wraps his claws around her neck for a brief embrace and then leaps onto the ground ecstatically. "That's fantastic news! We oughta have a celebration!"

As he dashes up the grassy hill to the temple with Cri-Kee, Mulan rolls her eyes. "How did I guess that one?" she murmurs with a grin. She starts to ponder about the past nine months's adventures, and she smiles.

"We really did do it," she says to herself proudly. "We really did."

"Cri-Kee! Call out for egg rolls!"

*upbeat 90s pop music blares from the temple*

 **THE** **END**

()-()-()


End file.
